RocketMouse

Agreed... getting your face in front of them is the best way. And here's another tip... not just in IT, but in a lot of industries now these days.... a lot of companies only hire from the outside through recruiting agencies. Not because they don't necessarily want to do it "in house" themselves... but by going through agencies they get to "test drive" you. See your skills in action and how you fit in with their specific culture. After that point... it's not uncommon for it to be offered to come on board with them permanently. This saves them the HR hassles and costs if a person turns out to not gel with their culture as well as they'd like to see. So keep that in mind that not all temp positions stay that way either.
It took me like 8 weeks once I got back on US soil too from living overseas and not having local experience here in the US to show. But it's all how you network. That's how I landed the position I'm leaving in the morning to drive 1000 miles to relocate for. Build yourself a professional network and maintain it. It will pay off.

CoffeeCommando

I like networking and have stayed in that realm. In my first enlistment, and during the school they teach you to build domains as well, I did work on them. I didn't particularly care for all the application navigation required to do it all. I liked the command line interfaces from Cisco. Me and my room mate used to bring a router to the barracks after work and set up a networking in the room before plugging in our little switch to play Counter Strike Source Beta on with other guys across the hallway. I miss those days.

One thing I have noticed is that every time I have looked for jobs there are ALWAYS network engineer positions open, which is typically CCNP level stuff. If I do get a job and I like it enough to want to stick with it I'll get my CCNA, then wait 1-2 years and renew with CCNP. It wouldn't be much work for me to do that but I'm just not motivated for that stuff anymore since I want to be an entrepreneur. Maybe I should go ahead and bite the bullet and go straight up to CCNP so I can have the option to go all over the country with both my primary and side job. That was my intention with the water-fuel contraptions I've been working with.

Certs will have to come later though as I don't have the finances to fund the certifications, and I don't see any positions near me requiring them anyways.

If nothing has happened by the time I'm back on the road I'm going to visit the places I have already applied at to get an in person update, then go visit the county career source for temporary things.

I also like networking because there are so many other little devices you get to tinker with in the process. I prefer new hardware over new software.

Bugout4x4

Well said... And it is "test driving". And honestly it is smart business and I have done this myself in hiring.

Rogue4x4

The agency thing is a great way to go, if you find a good agency. I have used some in the past that were great, others, not so much.

There's a particular agency here in town that really jerked me around. Soured me to the whole experience here where I live, as they are about the only local game in town.

I could go to different agencies, but would have to travel an hour or so in one of 2 directions to get there, haha

RocketMouse

Once you get to the point of working on the certs.... would check Cisco's site to verify the path for them. Some you might be able to go straight for... others do have pre-req's.
In networking, you need both sides of that coin. Say if you're dealing with switches, firewalls, etc.

Bugout4x4

That's a fact, just like any other business there are good ones and bad ones. But you know what? word gets out and they lose business. And you are their business. So sooner or later they do get a better manager. lol

s346k

ive never had luck online. any job i’ve gotten was face to face. but i’m on the dumb end of the job spectrum - drilling, truck driving etc. also i’ve only had 3 employers since 2001. i’m unsure how much employers value ftf transactions. it seems there is far less loyalty now than there used to be, on behalf of both parties. i think location plays a role, as well.

EZEARL

Haven't forgot about you CC. Talked to my son over the weekend. Plenty of full time jobs. They may be doing some part time evening and night time work before long. He'll keep you in mind.

CoffeeCommando

Thanks a mucho. I'm receiving my cam in the mail today so I should be back on the road by next week after the push rods come in. Weekend and night jobs, and full time, are no issue with me. I would prefer some night and weekend job time so I have free weekdays.

tinytrax78

x2 on indeed

CoffeeCommando

I had a speaker at some seminars I was a part of that worked at the county career source office. She said she didn't like Indeed because they keep old postings, and she's had employers try to take down postings from Indeed and they wouldn't allow it. Part of the signing up process requires you to agree to let them have ownership of the postings, so it's populated with posts that are outdated although you can't see that. They're using it to generate more clicks for money through advertising. I won't use it again. There's always a ton on there, too many to be realistic for my area, and after hearing her say that I knew why.

investinwaffles

99% of the time when I look at a hiring post on Indeed it redirects me to the company website, but that is exclusively for full-time Sysadmin jobs specifically.

I just looked again and the hardest part is finding something that is not full-time. There are tons of jobs at all levels that I am finding but all are full-time...